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October 5, 2018

Scripture- Numbers 32:6-12 “6 Do you intend to stay here while your brothers go across and do all the fighting?” Moses asked the men of Gad and Reuben. 7 “Why do you want to discourage the rest of the people of Israel from going across to the land the Lord has given them? 8 Your ancestors did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land. 9 After they went up to the valley of Eshcol and explored the land, they discouraged the people of Israel from entering the land the Lord was giving them. 10 Then the Lord was very angry with them, and he vowed, 11 ‘Of all those I rescued from Egypt, no one who is twenty years old or older will ever see the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, for they have not obeyed me wholeheartedly. 12 The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun, for they have wholeheartedly followed the Lord.”

Observations- Zoning at its best is what we find in this text. The shift of age, from stone to iron, was imminent, and the Israelites would not be the exception. God’s people were being updated with a brand-new generation with a free mentality and upgraded from family to nation, from insecure campers to owners of fortified cities. They were literally zoning and distributing the land as they conquered it.

Application- But there was one thing they had to conquer before conquering the land… Forty years earlier their parents had failed in an attempt because they were not able to conquer their national unity first. Moses, as a visionary leader, was clear that even though the land would be zoned into tribes, conquering it was not a tribal, but a national endeavor.

As people of God in this postmodern age, it’s still easy to fall into the tribal trap. But this text reminds us that our church’s ministries, generational or ethnic groups exist to conquer the world together, by making new and better disciples of Jesus Christ.

Just like centuries ago, lack of obedience and unity is a lethal delay in our urgent mission. The people of God has been an unstoppable force, not when it has been an overwhelming majority, but when it has been a united and anointed minority.

Prayer- Oh God it’s so easy to get comfortable in our tribes. Help us raise our eyes and see the land that’s still to conquer. Help us raise up as one, just as You, the Father and the Holy Spirit are One. In your mighty Name, we pray, AMEN!